Need a break from shopping, cooking, family get-togethers or endless repetitions of "All I Want For Christmas Is You"? Holly... Show More »

Need a break from shopping, cooking, family get-togethers or endless repetitions of "All I Want For Christmas Is You"? Hollywood has your back. This is prime movie-going season, and the studios have a little something for everyone.

Looking for some high-octane escapism? Tom Cruise is happy to oblige in "Jack Reacher." Prefer fantasy to gunplay? Peter Jackson and Co. are there for you with "The Hobbit." Want to exercise your literary impulses without actually opening a book? "Life of Pi" and "Anna Karenina" have you covered. Plus, you've got kid-friendly animated fare, R-rated comedy, indie comedies ... and plenty more reasons to head to the multiplex.

Check out the Oscar bait, blockbusters and other flicks heading to a theater near you. « Less

Bella Swan is a vampire,yo! Plus: It's the final installment of the franchise, Bella and Edward will finally (finally!) have lots of sex (extra spicy thanks to Kristen Stewart and Robert Pattinson's real-life romance scandal), and Jacob steps off because they're going to be his in-laws one day. Stephenie Meyer's brain is a bizarre and scary place.

"Lincoln" opened in a handful of theaters on Nov. 9, but it expands nationwide on the 16th. Steven Spielberg's film has won mostly great reviews for its tight focus -- it covers the last few months of Abraham Lincoln's life -- and Daniel Day-Lewis' performance in the title role. That plus a stellar cast (Tommy Lee Jones, Sally Field, James Spader, John Hawkes, Lee Pace) adds up to a history lesson that doubles as excellent entertainment.

Keira Knightley reunites with her "Pride & Prejudice" and "Atonement" director Joe Wright for a lavish adaptation of Leo Tolstoy's 1877 literary classic about infidelity. Jude Law plays her strict husband and Aaron Taylor-Johnson is her lover in a film that boldly stages much of its action -- including a pulse-pounding horse race and decadent costume balls -- inside an ornate theater. Look out for classy supporting turns from TV stars Kelly Macdonald ("Boardwalk Empire"), Ruth Wilson ("Luther") and Michelle Dockery ("Downton Abbey").

"The Hunger Games" made Jennifer Lawrence a star, and now this offbeat romantic comedy could make her an Oscar winner, if early buzz is to be believed. The recipient of the Toronto Film Festival's coveted People's Choice Award stars Bradley Cooper as a man fresh out of jail and trying to get his life back on track. Lawrence has already earned rave reviews as the mysterious young woman who may make that possible. David O. Russell ("The Fighter") wrote and directed this adaptation of Matthew Quick's book, which also stars Robert De Niro, Jacki Weaver and Chris Tucker (in his first acting role in five years).

Director Ang Lee brings an unfilmable book to the screen with this award-winning tale of a boy surviving 227 days at sea ... with an angry Bengal tiger sharing his lifeboat. The novel won the Man Booker Prize, and the movie is a shoe-in for a boatload of nominations come Oscar time.

The Easter bunny, Jack Frost, Santa, the tooth fairy, and more legends are all uniting to protect the innocence of children when the evil spirit Pitch threatens the world. With the voice talents of Alec Baldwin, Hugh Jackman, Chris Pine, and more, this is a can't-miss for kids and parents alike.

Why remake the 1984 World War III movie starring a coterie of Brat Packers? Reasons, obviously. Chris Helmsworth stars in the flick, which has been sitting on the shelves since being shot in 2009. (The same thing happened to Hemsworth's "Cabin in the Woods" -- he's like the Benjamin Button of movie stars.) Like the original, a bunch of pretty young people -- including Josh Hutcherson, Adrianne Palicki and Connor Cruise (Tom's son) -- become guerilla fighters protecting their hometown from an invading North Korean army.

Alfred Hitchcock is having a moment. First HBO aired "The Girl," about Hitchcock and Tippi Hedren, and now we've got this pic about the relationship between the director and wife Alma -- while he's filming an obscure little flick called "Psycho," which you may have heard of. As Hollywood loves movies about movies, movies about real people, and movies starring Anthony Hopkins (when he's not playing an exorcist), you can bet this will show up during awards season.

Blockbuster, Oscar bait or something else? Action, with a little comedy thrown in

The Weinstein Company doesn't sign on to make trash, and "Killing Them Softly" is no exception to the rule. Andrew Dominik's bleak depiction of the mafia's economic structure was well received at Cannes. A purported satire of American capitalism, Brad Pitt stars as a brute enforcer, alongside mob movie usuals James Gandolfini and Ray Liotta. You'll laugh, you'll cry, you'll be glad you're not on Brad Pitt's bad side.

Starring Bill Murray as Franklin D. Roosevelt and Laura Linney as Margaret Suckley, the president's distant cousin and mistress, this racy British-made film barely escaped an NC-17 rating. Kidding! Their romance is just one aspect of this nostalgic period piece, which focuses on Britain's King George VI (he of "The King's Speech") and Queen Consort Elizabeth's historic visit to FDR's Hyde Park home on the eve of World War II.

The holidays means spending too much time shopping, suffering through work parties, and resisting the urge to tell your cousins what you think of their political views. Give yourself a break with a movie that won't tax your synapses.

This year's contender? "Playing for Keeps," the tale of a washed-up soccer star (Gerard Butler) who ends up coaching his kid's team, and scoring with lusty soccer moms. Will it inspire deep thoughts? Of course not. But that's the point.

It's OK to be slightly skeptical about whether "The Hobbit" -- plus whatever appendices and extra bits of J.R.R. Tolkien's writings director Peter Jackson is using -- really has enough heft to support three movies. But Jackson has few equals in creating an immersive cinematic world. And with Martin Freeman in the title role and the return of Ian McKellen as Gandalf, it's also OK to be more than slightly excited to see what Jackson does with the story.

Wedding movies never really go out of style, and neither does the dry wit of stars Lizzy Caplan and Alison Brie. This one was released online already and has garnered plenty of buzz for its frank humor and inspired performances. Plus, Martin Starr is in it, and we never turn down a "Party Down" reunion.

Diretor Kathryn Bigelow won an Oscar for her last film, the Iraq war piece "The Hurt Locker," and she's returning to the battlefield for an account of the mission to find and take out Osama bin Laden. With a cast that includes James Gandolfini, Kyle Chandler, Taylor Kinney, Jessica Chastain, Chris Pratt and Mark Strong and the incredible source material, it promises to be an intense movie-watching experience.

Last year's "Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol" was one of the best surprises of the holiday season -- a giddy blast of action-movie escapism that seemed even more fun surrounded by serious Oscar contenders. Hopefully, Tom Cruise can pull that off again in this adaptation of Lee Child's best-selling thriller "One Shot." Child himself defended Cruise's casting after Reacher fans carped that the actor might be miscast as the physically imposing former Army Military Police officer. And if "Mission: Impossible" has taught us anything, it's that Cruise is at his best when he's underestimated.

Continuing the theme of novel adaptations this holiday season, Walter Salles takes on Jack Kerouac for the Francis Ford Coppola-produced "On the Road." The film version of the story, based on Kerouac's experiences in the 1940s, stars Garrett Hedlund and Kristen Stewart as the couple who rock the world of Sam Riley's Sal Paradise. This is one of those roles wherein Stewart sets about to prove she's more than a tween-inspiring vampire, as she strips down for a threesome with Hedlund and Riley. Amy Adams, Steve Buscemi and Viggo Mortensen also make notable appearances.

Blockbuster, Oscar bait or something else? R-rated comedy, but probably one with a big smooshy heart... Show More »

Release date: Dec. 21

Blockbuster, Oscar bait or something else? R-rated comedy, but probably one with a big smooshy heart

A sort-of sequel to "Knocked Up," Judd Apatow's "This Is 40" shifts away from Seth Rogen and Katherine Heigl to focus on Paul Rudd's and Leslie Mann's characters and the challenges they face as a couple and as parents rounding the bend into middle age. Their relationship wasn't the focus of "Knocked Up," but it was pretty darn funny. A slew of Apatow regulars (Jason Segel, Melissa McCarthy, Chris O'Dowd, Lena Dunham) are also in "This Is 40," so it might very well feel like hanging out with some old friends for a couple hours.

David Chase's movie earned mixed reviews when it debuted at the Toronto Film Festival, but when the creator of "The Sopranos" makes his first feature film, and it co-stars Tony Soprano himself, James Gandolfini, we're in regardless. "Not Fade Away" is the story of Jersey kids with rock 'n' roll dreams in the 1960s (Gandolfini plays the father of one of them), which is not exactly a new story. Then again, mob stories have been around a long time too, and look what Chase did with them.

There's still a lot we don't know about Quentin Tarantino's latest. But we do know that Jamie Foxx plays a freed slave who teams with a bounty hunter (Christoph Waltz) to rescue his true love (Kerry Washington) from an evil plantation owner (Leonardo DiCaprio). And we also know that a longer than expected production schedule, including various script and casting changes, left Tarantino racing to make sure the movie is finished by its target Christmas Day release. Whether that results in a broad hit like "Inglourious Basterds" or a cult favorite like "Jackie Brown," Tarantino has proven every film he makes is a must-see.

It's a wonder it took this long for Billy Crystal and Bette Midler to unite for a film, given their similar comedic sensibilities. In "Parental Guidance," they play the parents of Marisa Tomei's character -- and they begin to clash with her as to how to raise their grandchild. Hijinks ensue.

"Les Miserables" is not just a period film set to music. Victor Hugo's tale of revolution by the poverty-stricken against the oppressive upper class in France is revived by Tom Hooper, the man behind "The King's Speech." Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Amanda Seyfried and Helena Bonham Carter join Anne Hathaway in bringing to life a story with inescapable parallels to modern times. The film will likely be nominated for the best picture Oscar and, after a drastic haircut and dramatic weight loss for the role, Hathaway is a frontrunner for best actress.

A political drama about natural gas extraction won't be selling out midnight showings, but its pedigree almost guarantees critical success. The fracking film is written by and stars Matt Damon and John Krasinski ("The Office"), with Gus Van Sant (who teamed with Damon on "Good Will Hunting") at the helm. Art-house darlings Frances McDormand and Rosemarie DeWitt also star.